Jesus TV: Milking the Culture War

Time magazine gives a preview of “The Book of Daniel,” an NBC sitcom premiering this Friday, which already has all its liberal-moderate Christian street creds in order, having managed to piss off the American Family Association with screeners that the group considered a mockery of Christianity. Sure, it doesn’t take much to anger the AFA. And the “mockery,” by description, sounds a bit giddy: presumably some combination of the title character’s Episcopal priesthood, his pill-popping, his siblings’ homosexuality, the adultery of his New York suburb bishops, or the depiction of Daniel’s wise and wise-cracking personal Jesus, who notes Daniel’s Vicodin intake and aggressive driving. The show’s (gay, Christian) creator, Jack Kenny, explains that, “‘Jesus represents the best part of Daniel’s faith,'” for those prospective viewers who missed the driving theology here. Or possibly for the AFA, which plaintively asked, “‘Why not choose a conservative priest?'” since “‘most Christians have rejected the Episcopal position on homosexuality,'” and it’s “‘not a Christian position,'” anyhow.Is so.Is not.
We’ll have to make do with good juicy culture war fun for everyone, then, and plenty of op-eds come this weekend.